Artemis Fowl: The Legend of Mu
by moonfangpiercerofheaven
Summary: Mu...The lost continent. Today it's nothing more than a fairy tale. But Artemis Fowl knows just how dangerous fairy tales can be. Spoilers, TTP A/H
1. Chapter 1

**Sacramento California **

_**Stark Industries Building 4B Historical Documentation:**_

Footsteps echoed in the long hallway as three figures walked in silence along the dimly lit hall. The first figure, who seemed to be leading the other two, wore a cheap black suit and walked quickly as if he were actually scared of the people behind him. That comparison might actually not be far off from the truth. For the man actually found the two behind him frightening.

The one taking up the rear was huge, over seven feet tall. He looked like he could crush a rock just by squeezing it. He was defiantly not the type of person you want to mess with. The second person, who was walking in the middle of the two men, was completely different. He was young, only around fifteen years old. He wore a black collared shirt and dress pants and shoes that looked like they would cost around two hundred dollars. His dark hair fell over his eyes, which were something entirely different all in itself. One was blue and the other was hazel. The kid didn't look scary, but to the man in the front, he felt just as dangerous as the giant, if not more.

Finally the man in the front reached a door on the side of the hall. After a few seconds of fumbling with a set of keys on a ring he unlocked and the room. Sighing and running a hand through his hair he entered the room. The other two followed.

"Well, here it is," The man said, "This is where we store all the historical documents of the thirteenth century we've managed to recover. You wanted to see a Morcasin tablet right? Uh…Mister Fowl?" He was talking not to the giant but to the fifteen year old, who nodded.

"Yes, Thank you Mister Jefferson, I trust you can get it for us?" Jefferson's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh, yes! Of course," He once again took out his many keys. The room they were all in was relatively small, but there was a table in the middle of it and lockers covered the walls from ceiling to floor. Jefferson went over to one of the lockers and inserted a key. The lock unlatched. Jefferson grabbed the handle and pulled the locker out. There was a small metal case inside it. Jefferson removed the case from locker and set it down on the table, Where Artemis Fowl and Butler took a seat. Jefferson inserted his key into the case's lock and unlocked it. The case's lid sprang open. Inside was a small tablet with ancient writing on it. It looked to be made out of some sort of thin bone. Jefferson set it down on a cloth and stood up.

"There you go; I'm told you're allowed one hour to examine it. But that's all, and you can't take any pictures of it."

"Mister Jefferson if you recall we didn't have any cameras and you confiscated our cell phones when we arrived," Artemis said, almost in a bored tone. Jefferson bit his lip.

"Yeah…right…uh…well, if that's all…" he trailed off. Artemis nodded.

"You may go, and thank you for the assistance," Jefferson looked relived and headed for the door.

"Uh sure, no problem," Jefferson said. A second latter he left the room. Artemis and Butler stayed silent as they listened to Jefferson's fading footsteps. After they had gone Butler spoke up.

"We're not here for that tablet, are we?" The big man said. Artemis shook his head.

"No, we're not," The Irish boy answered.

"Normally I wouldn't ask questions, but this time I'm curious, I thought you gave up your criminal activities. At least big stuff like this seems to be," Artemis's eyelids lowered.

"I didn't come here to steal anything," Then he smirked, "But that doesn't mean I can't look," Butler rose and eyebrow.

"Look?"

"There's something else in this room," Artemis said, "Something even _I_ was denied access to," Butler nodded.

"Ok now I get it. I take it you don't want to be seen looking at whatever it is you're after," Butler said, eyeing the security camera. Artemis nodded.

"I'm sure you know all about this buildings security system," Artemis guessed. Butler nodded. He always made it a point to know everything there is to know about where they were going.

"Well?" Artemis guessed, "I take it since we're talking freely there's no audio surveillance?" Butler shook his head.

"No, but this building has an advanced video system. Almost as good as Fowl Manors. The video is all high resolution so nothings missed. Also, the system resets itself every three minutes."

"Rather paranoid these Americans. So we can't loop a feed?" Artemis asked. If the system reset itself then looping the feed wouldn't work. After the system was reset the loop would be lost. In theory anyway.

"Actually we can," Butler answered, "But whatever we're going to do, we have to do it fast, because after the system resets the loops gone the video would be live again. Artemis thought.

_Three minutes huh?_

He smiled.

"I think I can manage," Butler nodded.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Just keep track of time," Artemis told him. Butler nodded once again.

"Tell me when to start," Artemis said. He bent over the table and pretended to examine the bone tablet. He was actually pushing buttons on his watch, which was stuffed with fairy technology. The thing was more advanced than the twenty years from now version of the Mac.

Butler eyed the clock on the wall.

"Get ready," he said as he watched the second hand move. Artemis's finger hovered over a button on his watch.

"Now!" Butter said. Artemis smashed the button on his watch.

In the security room the monitors faded for a second, then whizzed back to life. An angry security guard smacked the monitor on the side.

"Stupid piece of junk," he mumbled.

Back in the room Artemis wasted no time. As soon as his finger hit the button he was out of his chair and soon enough standing before a particular locker on the wall. It was the largest one in the room and was in the center of the wall. His eyes glazed over the label on it.

_**N.A. West Coast –Discovered 1986**_

_This one!_

Artemis lifted his right foot. He opened a secret compartment in the bottom of his shoes sole. He pulled out two lock picking tools. Without hesitation he jammed them into the lockers lock. Seconds passed as the teenager worked the lock. He remembered how he, under a different alias of course, was denied access to this. He was told no one was allowed to see it. But Artemis needed to see it. He had his reasons.

"Artemis, Two minutes," Butler said. Artemis gritted his teeth slightly. Finally the lock opened. Artemis placed the tools in his teeth and opened the locker. There was a case inside just like with the Morcasin tablet. Artemis took the tools out of his mouth and went to work on the case's lock. This one was easier. It only took about fifteen seconds. With a click the lock unhinged and the lid sprang open. Artemis stared at the contents of the case. Inside was a book, a journal in fact. The cover was old and worn and the binding was beaten. It was truly a sight for anyone who appreciated such things.

"One minute thirty seconds," Butler's voice shook Artemis from his trance. He raised his hand and hit a button on his watch. There was a camera built into it. Quickly Artemis started taking pictures. Every page, not missing anything.

"Thirty seconds," Artemis felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. He was almost done.

"Ten seconds Artemis!"

_Finished!_

Artemis closed the book and slammed the case and locker shut. He bolted to his seat. With two seconds left he resumed the position he had been in when the loop had started.

Back in the security room the monitor flickered but other than that, nothing was wrong.

Artemis sighed.

"That was cutting it a little close Artemis," Butler commented. Artemis sighed again.

"If I had a bar of gold for every time I thought that,"

_**Five Hours later**_

_**On a plane flying to Ireland.**_

Artemis sat in a cozy chair in his privet jet. They had just left California. Artemis had pretended to study the tablet for another fifteen minutes after he had taken pictures of the book. After that he left. Simply walked out of the building, briefly thanking the manager for being allowed in. He had gotten some strange looks, but that was it.

Artemis booted up his laptop. He spent the next minute sending the pictures of the book to the device. Narrowing his eyes he brought up the pictures. It was written in a foreign language. But luckily it was one that Artemis knew. He spent the next fifteen minutes browsing the contents of the book. But he couldn't find what he was looking for. Then…

His eyes widened.

_There!_

He read it one more time.

_**And it rose out of the waters. The angry ocean swirling around it.**_

Artemis smiled his vampire smile.

"Mu…"

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**Authors Note- Well there it is, the first chapter. How do you like it? I owe the inspiration of this story to Gmontag's story Artemis Fowl: the book of ages. Probably the best AF fan fiction I've ever read. But this story won't be similar to his/hers (Sorry don't know). I only used the concept of using Mu. This is kinda going to be like Artemis fowl and Co. go on and Indiana Jones adventure. I don't know…I like it…**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Haven: LEP Headquarters**_

The doors to the operations booth whooshed as they slid open. Captain Holly Short sighed as she walked in and flopped into one of the spare chairs in the room. Foaly rose and eyebrow as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Rough day?" He asked, spinning around to look at her. Holly groaned in response.

"Traffic duty!" She exclaimed, "I was put on traffic duty!" Foaly looked at her.

"Really. Trouble put you on that? Why?" He asked. Holly groaned again.

"A couple of us drew straws…I lost,"

"Ah,"

"They let anyone fly these days!" Holly continued, "Am I the only person underground who knows how to fly a shuttle!?"

"Holly if everyone underground flew a shuttle like you…God help us all," Foaly said, wincing at just the thought.

"D'arvit Foaly! Do you realize the amount of idiots I had to deal with today!?" Holly asked in frustration, "I swear!"

"Know you know how I feel every day," Foaly commented, who was apparently taking every chance he had to get in an "I'm so underappreciated" comment.

"Whatever! It's over now," She sighed, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

"SHORT!" Troubles voice rang out. Holly's eyes shot open and she sat up straight. Foaly lowered his hands from his ears.

"What'd you do now?" Foaly asked.

"Uh…" Holly answered.

"Is that an 'uh, I don't know' or an 'uh, let me see, there could be many things'?" Holly didn't get a chance to answer because at that moment Commander Trouble Kelp walked into the Operations booth. Ignoring Foaly's "Doesn't anyone knock anymore!?" comment he walked over to Holly. The commander was looking at a sheet of paper in his hand. His face was a mixture of anger and disbelief, quite an impressive accomplishment.

"Short," It was work time so he had to address her formally, even if they were friends, "…" He opened his mouth but no words came out. He was still staring at the sheet of paper he held. Finally she shook his head and blinked several times.

"Is it true that you punched out a driver while you were on duty today?" Holly looked away, embarrassed. Foaly let out a whistle.

"Wow…" Foaly said, looking amused "Was there a street camera nearby, because I want to see that!"

"Can it Foaly!" Trouble demanded. Foaly pouted and turned back to his computers. Trouble turned back to Holly.

"Well?" He asked.

"He was being a jackass!" Holly defended herself.

"That doesn't give you a reason to knock someone out!" Trouble snapped, "You're a Captain of the LEP! You need to act professional,"

"I don't know…" Foaly said. He had somehow hacked into the security cameras feeds of the section Holly was assigned to. There onscreen was Holly cleanly laying out an obviously drunk driver, "That right hook looked pretty professional to me," Trouble sighed as he watched the video. After a minute he turned back to Holly.

"Look Holly, all things aside for now. Are you feeling alright? You seem to be on edge lately. As your commanding officer I need to know if there's something wrong because we can't have stuff like that…" He pointed to the screen, "Happening a lot," Holly looked at him.

"I'm not on edge," She protested.

"Are you kidding!?" Foaly exclaimed, "Any more on edge and you'd be falling off it!" Holly glared at him. Trouble sighed.

"Seriously Holly…Is this about Opal?" He asked. Holly bit her lip. Troubles gaze softened.

"We'll find her, Holly," He said, "So just relax"

"Relax? The most dangerous pixie in the world is loose and I'm stuck here directing shuttles!"

"Look Holly, I know how you must feel," Trouble said sternly, "But that's reason to act so unprofessionally when you're on duty," Holly slumped her shoulders and sighed.

"I… Sorry Trouble," She relented, "It's just…I'm worried. Koboi's deranged, and the people on the top of her hit list are all good friends of mine,"

"Don't forget you're on that list too," Foaly reminded her.

"Yes, thank you Foaly," Holly said sarcastically. Trouble nodded at her.

"I know, and I know it can't be easy. But like I said, we'll find her. I promise," Holly nodded and smiled.

"Thanks Trouble, uh, commander," Trouble smiled and nodded.

"Just make sure on you're next assignment, you don't beat up any civilians," Holly groaned.

"Alright, alright, don't rub it in," Trouble laughed in spite of himself and left. Holly groaned again and flopped back into her chair.

"Uhg…well, at least this day can't get any worse." As soon as she said that Foaly made a big show of flinching and looking around. Holly looked at him tiredly.

"What?" He shrugged.

"Sorry, it's just… You know, usually when someone says that, something blows ups right?...Or it starts raining…" Holly said nothing as she rose from the chair, shaking her head as she headed for the door.

"Yeah, you're not on edge!" Foaly called after her sarcastically as she left the room.

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Artemis sat by his desk, computer up and running. His eyes narrowed as he looked over the many different pages he has open. One of those pages was of the book he had taken pictures of at Stark Industries. The other pages were filled with different things. Some had painting on them, some were filled with other books, and one even had a picture of cave drawings on them. Artemis had gone over them all for the entire day. He needed to confirm if what he thought was true…was actually true. So now, six hours after he had started, he leaned back in his chair.

"Hmm…" He said thoughtfully, "It appears my theory was correct," He said to himself. A second later Butler entered the room, carrying a tray.

"Artemis, here's dinner." The manservant said as he placed the tray on the desk. Artemis merely nodded. Butler looked at him.

"Anything?" He asked. Artemis nodded again.

"Yes, My suspicions were correct," He said. Butler looked at him.

"So…What does that mean?" He asked. Artemis turned and looked out the window.

"It means…we have another 'adventure' on our hands," Butler sighed.

"Artemis…" He said, "Can't we just…let this one pass by?" He said tiredly.

"We could," Artemis said, "But it would be disastrous for the fairies. Our friends…" Artemis clenched his fist.

"I won't let that happen," Butler looked at him strangely. Artemis noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"What?"

"It just…" Butler started, "You don't normally talk like that," Artemis sighed.

"I know…" He said nothing else. After a moment of silence Butler turned towards the door.

"Well…I'll be downstairs if you need me," Artemis nodded. Butler left the room, closing the door behind him. Artemis looked back to his computer screen. After a minute he sighed.

"Well…I guess it's now or never,"

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**Authors Note- I know, not a lot was revealed in this chapter. I had to set things up for the next chapter, which I promise you'll like. And some stuff will be explained in the next chapter…maybe…I don't know yet… At the very least…you'll get a sense of things in two chapters time. I promise. Anyway, Review Please!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Still Fowl Manor**_

_**Sometime during the late afternoon**_

Artemis closed down his computer and stretched. After yawning he looked to his left. An old Italian painting was mounted on the wall. Getting up from the chair he was sitting he walked over to it. Making sure no one was around he grabbed the frame and removed it from the wall, behind the painting was a small safe. Rather cliché, Artemis would admit, but as the old saying went, 'if it wasn't broke, don't fix it' and the painting was definitely able to hide the safe successfully. The frame was led lined so scanners couldn't detect the safe behind it. Nobody knew about the safe except for Artemis and Butler. And only Artemis knew the value of what lay inside the safe.

Artemis quickly dialed in the combination to unlock the safe. There was a click as the safe opened. Artemis reached inside and pulled out the object the safe contained. His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the object. He stayed standing in that spot for several minutes. Finally he nodded to himself as if confirming something. Hesitantly he replaced the object back into the safe. However his hand stayed locked onto the object. Artemis gritted his teeth and after a second his hand released the object. He quickly closed the safe and took a deep breath. That was when Butler came in.

"Artemis!?" He exclaimed. The genius was sweating lightly and was panting. Artemis took another deep breath and stood up straight.

"I'm fine Butler," He said after he had regained himself. Butler looked at him.

"You didn't…?"

"I had to," Artemis interrupted, "I know now I can't unlock it. At least, not by myself, I need magic," Butler nodded.

"So I guess it's time then," Artemis nodded his head and walked back over to his computer.

"It's time to make the call,"

_**Haven: LEP Headquarters**_

Holly spun around in the chair once more. As she slowed down she stifled a yawn. She was, for lack of anything better to do, once again hanging out in the operations booth. Crime underground had taken a dive lately so only a few officers were sent out on patrol. She wasn't the only one bored in LEP. As she had been walking to the Operations Booth she had seen a few officers asleep at their desks. Sighing she spun around in the chair again. Foaly glanced at her.

"What, Is Holly Short bored now that she doesn't have Goblins to shoot at, Crazy Pixies to chase, or Mud-boys to fawn over?" Holly glared at him.

"What was that last one?" She hissed.

"Nothing," Foaly said quickly as he turned back to the computers.

"That's what I thought," Holly grumbled behind him. Foaly smirked. A minute passed. Holly sighed again out of boredom. Foaly turned back around.

"If you're so bored why don't you go do something?" He said to her.

"Like what?" She asked tiredly.

"Well, instead of wearing down my chairs why don't you go to the shooting range, or call a friend even,"

"Call a friend?"

"Right," Foaly smirked, "Ms. Workaholic doesn't have many friends. Well, why don't you call Artemis, I'm sure he 'd be happy to hear from you,"

"Mud boy's been busy apparently, he hasn't answered my calls for the last three days, " She said.

"And exactly how many times have you tried to call him for the past three days?" Foaly said smirking. Holly glared at him.

"Woah, take it easy, just asking.," Foaly said.

_Geez, she never got this angry when I teased her about this before…_

"Well whatever, if you want to be all antisocial that's fine. Just don't break any of my AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" As Foaly had been talking he had turned back to his computers, which now held Artemis's face on it, much to Foaly's surprise.

"Hey," Artemis said, amusement on his face as he watched Foaly hyperventilate.

"D'arvit Fowl! Don't do that!" Foaly said. Artemis shrugged.

"Sorry, next time I'll knock first," He said sarcastically.

"What do you want," Foaly said, regaining himself.

"I was…wondering if you could send Holly up for a bit," Holly's boredom suddenly flew out the window but she didn't say anything. It seemed that Artemis hadn't noticed her yet. Foaly broke out in a huge grin.

"What Fowl, Are you asking her out on a date or something?" He smirked. If looks could kill, Foaly would be dead. Twice…Because Holly was giving him the same look Artemis was.

"No…"Artemis hissed, clearly struggling to hold back a retort, "I need a shot of magic," Foaly blinked.

"Magic?" he repeated, "Why?"

"If I wanted you to know, I would have told you," Now it was Foaly's turn to glare while Artemis smirked.

"Look, just know that I need Holly up here," Artemis said.

"You _need_ me huh?" Holly said, stepping in view of the screen. She smirked, "How sweet," Artemis's eyes widened slightly as Holly appeared but he quickly regained himself.

"Oh, Holly, you're there,"

"So what's up Mud boy?" She asked, "Why do you need some magic?" Artemis opened his mouth but no words came out.

"I…"He trailed off, "…can't tell you yet," He finished.

"What?" Holly said, raising an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Several reasons," He replied. He raised a finger, "One, I don't want _him_ to know about it yet," He said pointing at Foaly.

"Hey!" Foaly shouted angrily.

"And two," He said, raising another finger, "It involves the secrecy of The People," He said with a serious face. Holly and Foaly eye's widened slightly.

"I believe the Peoples secrecy may be in jeopardy," Artemis told them. Holly looked at him.

"Is…this about Opal?" She asked. Artemis shook his head.

"No, However, it may prove to be just as dangerous," He explained.

"What do you mean?" Foaly asked.

"Like I said, I can't tell you,"

"Look Fowl, if you know the People are in danger, you need to spit it out!" Holly said.

"That's the thing, I don't' know," Artemis replied, "and I won't until I get magic," Foaly and Holly just looked at him.

"What are you doing Fowl?" Holly asked, confused. Artemis sighed and muttered something like 'I can't believe I have to explain this'.

"LEP code requires you to report anything that may jeopardize the People's secrecy, immediately, no matter how insignificant," Holly nodded. The Peoples secrecy was taken very seriously. They could take no chances about being discovered.

Artemis continued, "The People _might_ be in danger. Might, as it is I don't know. It's fifty-fifty either way, So there is a chance I'm wrong and the People will be fine, and I won't be responsible for causing panic in Haven just because I gave you a bad piece of information." Artemis said. Foaly nodded. It made since, if they reported false information and caused an uprising in Haven, well, that would be a good way to piss a lot of people off.

"So you work around the rules so you don't break them, that's new for you," Foaly said. Artemis ignored him.

"Holly, if you come up here I'll be able to find out for sure if the People are in danger, but I need your magic to do so," He said. Holly thought for a moment. After a second she nodded.

"Alright, I'll come up," She said, "But I'll have to talk to Trouble first," Artemis nodded.

"Good, see you soon," He cut the transmission. As Artemis's face disappeared from the screen Foaly turned to Holly.

"Well, it looks like you won't be bored anymore," Foaly said. Holly nodded.

"But since when is that ever a good thing?" She asked.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Fowl Manor: Ireland**_

Holly smiled as she walked flew through the open window that had been left for her. There had been a point in her life when she would have liked nothing greater than to see this building blown sky high. But that was years ago. She actually found herself enjoying entering the Fowl manor on several occasions. Weird…

She headed towards Artemis room, shielded of course. She floated down long hallway, looking at the various paintings and photographs hanging in the halls. She saw a couple of Mr. and Mrs. Fowl, and a few of Artemis. She blinked as she flew up to one. It was a picture of Artemis and his brothers. One of the twins was sitting on his lap and was grabbing Artemis's nose, the other was sitting calmly watching the two. Artemis himself was smiling as his brother squeezed his nose. Holly found herself smiling at his smile, it was a real smile, not his vampire one.

_Who would have thought…_

Leaving the picture Holly soon found herself near the teenager's room. Upon entering the room she discovered that her friend was nowhere to be found.

_Huh, not here_

Frowning she left the room, wondering where he might be. She again took to the halls. She froze when she heard footsteps.

Butler turned the corner, yawning slightly. Holly smiled when she saw him and unshielded. Butler jumped back in surprise as the Fairy seemingly materialized out of nowhere. He smiled when he saw it was only Holly.

"Holly," He said, "You shouldn't surprise me like that," He said. Holly laughed.

"Sorry big guy, I forgot how jumpy you were," She said, "I'm looking for Artemis," She told him. Butler nodded.

"He's in the library," He told her. Holly nodded.

"I don't suppose you know what's going on?" She asked him. Butler shook his head.

"I probably don't know much more than you do," He admitted, "But whatever it is, it's had Artemis and me running all over the globe for the past two months,"

"Maybe he's planning his world domination," She joked. Butler chuckled.

"Maybe, but he seems really determined to help you," He said. Holly frowned.

"Why? He's done a lot for the People already, he doesn't owe us anything,"

"I didn't say he was doing it for the People," Butler said.

"Wha?" Holly asked. Butler smiled and shook his head.

"Sorry, that's his business," He said, "You should probably go see Artemis now, he's waiting for you," Holly frowned but nodded. She activated her wings.

"Later big guy," She smiled and shielded. Butler smiled and nodded. Holly started to head to the library.

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Artemis was bent over a desk, closing examining an old book. He sat up and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He picked up the book and turned a page and looked at an old photograph that was on the page.

"Hey Holly," He said suddenly. Holly scowled as she lowered her shield.

"How do you do that?" She asked. He turned around in his chair and smirked.

"I felt the air pressure in the room rise as you entered," Holly stared at him.

"Really?"

"No," He smiled. Holly couldn't help but laugh as she gave him the customary kiss on the cheek.

"Got a sense of humor now have we?" She said.

"Apparently, I've been spending too much time with you fairies," He said. Holly chuckled. She sat down on a chair across from him.

"I see you had no trouble coming up here, no pun intended," He said. Holly chuckled anyway.

"His exact word were, 'if Fowl says it serious, we should listen to him,'" Artemis smirked. Holly rolled her eyes, the last thing he needed was an ego boost,"

"Alright, so you needed magic?" She said to him.. Artemis nodded.

"Yes, but first you deserve an explanation," Holly looked at him.

"I thought you weren't going to tell us anything yet,"

"I wasn't over a LEP monitored video channel," Holly nodded. Made sense.

"So what's up then. What's going on?" Artemis took a deep breath.

"Alright, I suppose I should start at the beginning," He said.

"That's usually the best place to begin," Holly said. He ignored her and continued.

"What I have to say might sound a little unbelievable," He said. Holly sighed.

"Artemis, after all the stuff we've done, nothing is unbelievable,"

"Agreed," He shrugged. He leaned forward slightly.

"…Have you ever heard of Mu?" He asked. Holly blinked.

"Mu? Uh…I've heard of it, but that's about it," She answered, "It's supposedly a lost island right?"

"Not just an island," Artemis corrected her, "A whole continent, and if my theory's correct, it's about to be found," Holly rose an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? You mean it's real?" She asked. Artemis nodded and leaned back in his chair.

"It's very real, and it's coming back,"

"Coming…back?" Holly asked, "What do you mean?" Artemis bit his lip slightly.

"Mu, is a giant mass of land…just like Hybras." He said to her. Holly looked at him.

"Just like Hybras?" Holly asked, "I don't get It,"

"Remember what Hybras was? It was an island that existed outside of time. The Demon warlocks used a powerful magical spell that allowed it to be lifted up and out of time." Artemis sighed.

"Don't you find it strange that the Warlocks were able to successfully execute the spell the first time they tried it, even if they had some problem,"

"You mean like being turned to stone?" Holly asked sarcastically. Artemis continued.

"The reason they were able to successfully wield a spell like that was because they weren't the first to do so, they simply followed example. A similar spell was also used thousands of years earlier, on Mu. Only for Mu, the factor isn't time, its space."

"Space?" Holly said. Artemis nodded. He got up and walked over to his desk, when he came back a minute latter he had his laptop with him.

"Look here," He opened his laptop. Clicking on a few buttons, he brought up a few pages, one of those pages was the book he had gotten from California.

"Look at this; this is a picture of a page of a sailor's journal written in the thirteenth century. This page, dated November 21 1214. Artemis began to read.

_**Never before have I witnessed such an event. The waves around us swirled violently, the ship rocked and turned. The men began praying, begging the lord to have mercy on them. Suddenly I saw it, out in the sea, not a mile from our beloved ship. It was land, and it rose out of the waters, the angry ocean swirling around it. **_

Artemis paused.

"This is what he writes later on," He finally said.

_**I can see the island clearly now. The Island that rose out of the ocean. Some of the men when want to go ashore, but our captain wouldn't' allow it. We will be continuing our voyage to…**_

Artemis stopped reading.

"I guess I don't have to tell you what he saw," he said to Holly

"The island that rose out of the ocean…meaning Mu?" Artemis nodded.

"This entry was written in the early thirteenth century, in the middle of the pacific ocean, on a voyage to discover new land." Artemis told her; "Well, they found new land alright," Holly leaned back in the chair she was sitting on. Her head was starting to spin.

"And there are other accounts, all across the world that details the same thing. Look," He clicked on a button. A new page opened up. It was a picture of cave paintings. Holly's eyes widened as she looked at it. It showed an island, with waves swirling around it. God like creatures were seen on either side of the island, it looked as if they were pulling it up. Pulling it out of the ocean.

"This is just one other account. There are many others, But each of them say the same thing. They all describes a large island that just rises out of the sea. This one here, these drawings, were found in a cave in South Africa. They date back too early B.C. Apparently, a tribe living near the coast witnessed Mu coming out of the ocean." Holly looked up.

"South Africa? That's nowhere near the Pacific ocean," Holly said. Artemis shook his head.

"No…it's not…Each one of these accounts, like this one, A sketch done miles off the Brazil coast in South America, and this here, Another sailors journal from the Southern Ocean, each of these descriptions of Mu were found in a different parts of the world," Holly looked at him.

"Wait, you said space…" She said, "Are you saying this is an island that moves!?" Artemis shook his head.

"No…Mu doesn't move…" He told her, "…But the Earth does," Holly rose and eyebrow. She didn't understand.

"What are you saying?" She asked. Artemis looked at her.

"Mu, to put things simply, is a magic island. It exist at one specific point in the universe. Earth, however, rotates around the sun. According to my calculations, every three hundred years or so, Earth and Mu coincide at a point where Mu can exist on earth. And because of Earths axel rotations, Mu's coordinates are different every time." He paused.

"I spoke with Qwan a month ago. He said that the demons did in fact get the idea for lifting Hybras out of space from an old legend. The legend of Mu. Qwan told me it. Apparently, back when the earth was still young. A few of the first people skilled in the way of magic saw where the world was headed, and they didn't like it. So they gathered a group and casted a spell. It rose an island, Mu, off of earth and into space, where the people could live in their own world and not deal with the evil growing on earth. At least, as legend goes. But in fact, the spell didn't move Mu, it simply anchored it to a specific point in the Universe, Earth continued to rotate without it. But as I have said before, every three hundred years or so there comes a point where Mu and Earth reunite."

"Wait, that can't be true. If Mu appeared three hundred years ago we would know about it. We had the technology to determine if a giant island just appeared on earth," Artemis shook his head.

"Not quite," He said, "Mu has some sort of magical cloaking device, making it invisible to anyone outside…oh I say a miles radius of it. That's why no one has been able to find it floating out in space, or see it when it comes to earth."

"A magical cloaking device?" Holly asked.

"Yes, like a fairy's shield only a million times bigger,"

"A shield? Do you know how much magic it would take to shield a whole island?" Holly asked incredulously. Artemis sat back in his chair thinking.

"Quite a bit, I would imagine."

"More magic that exits on earth! It's not possible!" Holly exclaimed. Artemis shook his head.

"Like I said before, Mu is almost a magical anatomy in itself, It could be said that the Island is a living creature and magic is its blood. It would easily have enough magic to sustain a constant shield. At least from a distance. As I have stated, once within a miles radius of the island, Mu can be easily seen,"

"But we still would have been able to detect it," Holly reasoned, "It may be able to hide from sight but not from radar, we had that kind of technology three hundred years ago. We would have found it," Artemis nodded.

"You did,"

"But you said we didn't,"

"I said you didn't know about it, I didn't say you didn't find it," Holly shook her head.

"Enough with the word play Artemis, I'm getting a headache as it is,"

"When I found out about Mu I thought the same things you did. So about a month ago I…uh…" Artemis suddenly looked shy. Holly looked at him.

"You what?" She asked. Artemis shuffled his feet a bit. He looked kind of like a kid who had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It would have been funny if they weren't on such a serious subject.

"I…hacked into Foaly's system to look into it," Artemis admitted. Holly shook her head again.

"I'll lecture you about that later, for now just tell me what you found," She told him.

"Using Foaly's computer I was able to access the LEPs database. After some poking around I found a classified file there, a file that was hidden away from everything and everyone, even Foaly,"

"You can't _hide_ a file from Foaly," Holly said.

"You can if he doesn't know it exists. This file was separated from everything else, it was hidden very carefully and had a security system second only to an eternity code" He said.

"So then how did you find it?" Holly asked. He smirked.

"Just because I don't know if something exists or not doesn't mean I can't find it. The fact that I'm talking to an elf is proof of that,"

"Yeah yeah, you're a genius," She muttered, "So what did you find?" Artemis's face grew serious.

"Apparently, around three hundred years ago, the LEP discovered that a massive piece of land that just materialized in the Atlantic Ocean. So they sent out a team to investigate, Soon after, that piece of land vanished. And the team was never heard from again,"

"The piece of land was Mu," Holly guessed. Artemis nodded. She was catching on.

"Even the LEP knew nothing about what had happened. So they closed the file, made it classified and never spoke of it again," Artemis sat back,

"There's a saying, 'you fear what you cannot see, and respect, that which cannot be explained'" The LEP left the matter alone after that. I'm sure it scared them. A team of trained LEP officers don't just disappear, and they sure aren't killed easily. They didn't know what happened. So that was why no one knows about Mu." Holly looked at him.

"Mu's coming back," She said simply. Artemis nodded.

"Probably," he said, "I still have one final test to make sure. But if Mu does come back," Artemis narrowed his eyes.

"Then I'm afraid, the existence of the People, will no longer remain secret,"


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Note- Okay I screwed up in the Story. So I went back and redid some stuff. I changed a lot of things after chapter one, so you should go back and read them again. Just saying…**

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"What do you mean Artemis?" Holly asked. Artemis sighed.

"Mu was 'created' by a group of magical beings, even if they no longer exist on the island, the chances of there being no evidence of magical races on that island are close to zero. When mankind finds Mu, they will also find the People." Artemis said gravely.

"But if what you say is true, Mu has been appearing on earth for thousands of years, why haven't the humans found out about us before then?"

"Think Holly, Mu _has_ been coming to Earth for thousands of years, the last time being roughly three hundred years ago, but so many things have changed since then. Mankind has progressed far." Artemis explained, "Before now, Mu has been discovered yes, but think about it. Even if it had been discovered, by the time any respectable scientist could get out there, Mu would have already left Earth, and with it any evidence of Magical races."

"Wait, exactly how long does Mu stay on Earth?" Holly asked. Artemis leaned back in his chair.

"According to my calculations… about seven days," He said, "one week," He paused, letting it sink in.

"Before now, even if Mu was discovered. The discoverer would have to sail back to wherever he came from, convince someone with respectable scientific merit to believe him, and sail back. That could take weeks. That's how the People have stayed safe. But today…" Artemis leaned forward.

"With Planes, cruises, and other methods of transportation that journey across the sea daily. I believe Mu will be discovered not even one day after it reaches Earth. And I think we can agree, it won't take weeks to get people out there," Artemis stopped for a minute to catch his breath.

"Seven days of Mankind doing research on that island. Seven whole days. There is no chance that the People can remain hidden," Holly just stared. This was horrible. If Artemis was right, there was no chance that the People wouldn't be discovered. Her throat felt dry when she asked.

"So what do we do?" Artemis looked at her.

"As I said before, My calculations could be wrong, and Mu may not be coming back yet. But that's why I needed you, I need to perform one last test to see if my theory is right, and to see if Mu is coming back," Holly nodded weakly.

"What do I need to do?" Artemis stood up.

"Follow me," He said. She nodded. Artemis walked out into the hallway. Holly followed, after barely remembering to Shield. After a few minutes of walking they arrived at Artemis room. They entered and Artemis locked the door behind him.

"This would feel wrong under different circumstances," Holly smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood. Artemis smiled but couldn't help blushing a bit.

"Over here," He said. He pointed to a painting on his wall. He walked over and removed it from the wall. The safe lay on the other side.

"A safe behind a painting huh?" Holly said, shaking her head. Artemis shrugged.

"Whatever works," He smiled. His smile faded however, when he unlocked the safe. He stepped back and looked at Holly.

"Take it out," He said to her. Holly looked at him strangely but did walked over to the safe. She reached inside and pulled the object out. Her eyes widened at what she held. It was a cube, around the size of one of those Rubix cubes. It had a rusted metallic look to it and groves ran all over the cube. Markings were engraved on each side. But that wasn't the strangest thing. Holly felt a strange power coming from the cube, she couldn't explain it. If felt a bit like magic, but at the same time it felt completely different.

"What is this?" She asked. Artemis looked at her.

" The Vita Cube," He said to her, "An artifact from Mu,"

"From…Mu…?" Artemis nodded.

"This was found near the crater in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula," He said, "I don't think I need to tell you what created the crater,"

"Wow..." Was all Holly could say, "This is incredible, it's like it's alive or something," She held out the cube to Artemis. Artemis backed away quickly.

"Don't!" He said sharply, his face held a look of what one could consider fear. Holly brought back the cube and looked at him, surprised by his strange reaction.

"What?" She asked. Artemis took a deep breath.

"I…can't touch it. It has a…rather negative effect on humans…" Artemis told her.

"What do you mean?" Holly asked.

"I don't' want to talk about it," Artemis said. Obviously he didn't like the cube. But Holly didn't press further, he would talk when he wanted to…if he wanted to…

"So…what do I do with it?" She asked. Artemis, forgetting the cubes effect on him, got back to business.

"This is why I needed your magic," he said, "Could you give it a shot of magic?" Holly nodded.

"Sure," She touched the cube with her right finger. Suddenly a spark flew off of it and was absorbed into the cube. Artemis and Holly both looked at it. The cube did nothing.

Holly rose an eyebrow.

"Nothing happened," as soon as she said that something happened. Sparks started flying across the cubes surface. A buzzing sound could be heard coming from it. Suddenly a portion of the cube dropped inside and the edges popped outwards. A bright light flew out of the hole that was now on the cube. Holly dropped the cube and covered her eyes, as did Artemis.

After a moment the light faded. Artemis and Holly lowered their hands and glanced at the cube. Artemis eyes widened.

"Oh my…" Greenish symbols were hovering over the cube. It looked like the cube was emitting a hologram, but that would have been impossible, holograms were a recent invention, even to the fairies. He studied the symbols. Artemis couldn't understand them, but he recognized them for what they were.

"What is this?" Holly apparently didn't. She kneeled down and examined the cube. Artemis looked at the symbols. There was on set that was larger than the rest and there were another off to the side, that set changed after every three seconds or so.

"It's a countdown," Artemis realized.


	6. Chapter 6

Holly stared at the object before her. The glowing green symbols flickered and changed as time passed. She thought over what Artemis had said.

"A count down?" She asked. Artemis nodded, not taking his eyes off the changing symbols.

"A count down to what?" Holly asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Obviously, the time until Mu reaches Earth," Artemis said to her. Holly looked back to the cube. She studied the symbols that were being projected out of the cube. She couldn't make heads or tails of any of it. It certainly wasn't Gnomish. The fact that she couldn't understand it made it seem all the more scary. Magic wasn't going to help in this case. Her gift of tongues allowed her to understand every language that existed. But it had to be verbally spoken. If it was writing, well…she was screwed.

"I don't recognize the symbols," She admitted, "What kind of language is it?"

"Muish, probably. One of the first languages to ever exist. And probably the base for many languages. If you look you can see traces of Latin and even some Gnomish." Holly didn't it, but she nodded anyway.

"Can you read it?" She asked. She picked up the cube, the changing symbols still being projected on the top.

"I can't understand it," Artemis told her, still not looking at her. He seemed mesmerized by the glowing countdown projected from the cube. Holly thought for a moment.

"Do…Do think you would be able to translate it?" She asked, "You were the first and only human to ever learn Gnomish. You decoded our book and were able to translate it. Can you do that here?" She observed the object, "There's even more writing on the sides," She noticed.

"There's still not enough for me to go off of." Artemis explained, "I needed your whole book to learn Gnomish, a few symbols isn't enough," Holly nodded. That made sense.

"So you cant' tell how much time we have left?" Holly guessed. Artemis smirked.

"I never said that," Artemis replied. Holly sighed.

"Artemis," She warned, "If you know something, spit it out before I make you," Artemis smiled at Holly's familiar behavior/

"Alright, give me a few minutes," He said. And a few minutes he took. For the next three minutes Artemis just stood there, unmoving, hands in his pockets as he stared at the changing symbols. Holly waited, impatiently, but without saying anything. She recognized the face Artemis made while thinking hard. And she knew it was best not to bother him.

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Artemis watched the symbols with a determined expression. Calculations and numbers ran through his mind at break neck speed. Artemis narrowed his eyes as he watched the count down. The smaller set of numbers seemed to change every three seconds. There were twelve symbols in the sequence. The symbol would change to a different one every three seconds, this happened twelve times and then it went back to the first symbol. In the larger set of symbols. They changed after two cycles of the smaller set. Artemis saw that they changed in the same pattern as the smaller set.

_So…going off my original three seconds and taking everything in account…_

Artemis narrowed his eyes in concentration as he did the intensely complicated math. He vaguely recalled the memories of the time on Hybras where he had had to perform a similar action. After a minute Artemis finished his calculations.

"I've got it," He said suddenly. Holly looked up at him sharply; she had been watching the count down.

"Just like that?" She said skeptically.

"Yes," He answered. She shrugged, she knew better than to second guess Artemis Fowl.

"So…" She said, getting up from her position on the floor, "How long do we have? Artemis's face darkened considerably.

"Less time than I would have thought…Much less," He revealed quietly.

"How long Artemis?" Holly repeated. She didn't like the tone in his voice. Artemis sighed

"Approximately fifty two hours," He said slowly, "A little over two days…" Holly's eyes widened in shock. This was about as bad as it got.

"Two days!?" She exclaimed. Artemis looked up from the floor and turned toward her.

"I think now would be a good time to call Foaly," He said quietly.

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Foaly was currently taking a nap in the Operations booth. It was rather boring without Holly. And Trouble wasn't as much fun to poke fun with as Julius was. Besides, he wasn't scared of the consequences. What was anyone going to do, fire him? Yeah right… Unfortunately he always seemed to forget that his budget wasn't set in stone. However, something was about to happen that would make budget cuts the least of his problems…Okay probably not, but it would lower their importance just a tiny bit…

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP**_

Foaly lazily opened his eyes at the beeping sound. Yawning he looked over at his computer screens. They said that he was getting a call. Yawning one last time he answered it. Holly's face appeared.

"Foaly!" She exclaimed.

"Hey Holly," Foaly greeted, apparently still to sleepy to catch the urgency in her voice. "How was your date with Fowl?"

"Shut up and listen to me Pony boy," Holly said, "Some things happened," Foaly looked at her.

_Wow, no comeback for the dating comment, this must really be big. _

"What is it?" He asked. They showed him the cube. Well, Holly showed it to him. Artemis wouldn't go anywhere near the thing. Any trace of Foaly's tiredness disappeared as he saw the artifact. His jaw dropped and he jerked toward the screen.

"What the! Where did you get that!?" He exclaimed. Holly put down the cube and turned back to Foaly.

"Well…" She started but was cut off.

"Holly, perhaps I should explain," Artemis' voice was heard off screen. Holly turned and nodded, probably at him, and left the screen. Artemis appeared a moment later. Foaly narrowed his eyes at him.

"Okay Fowl, explain. Why do you have what is obviously a fairy artifact?" Artemis sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell you…"

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An hour later Artemis finished his explanation. He had told Foaly everything he had told Holly, which was not quite everything, but enough for now. Holly sat in a chair a few feet away as she listened to Artemis explain. The worry was evident on her face. Foaly had been skeptical at first but a big ticking count down was rather persuasive. Foaly started believing Artemis.

Artemis leaned back in his chair as he finished his explanation. He waited for Foaly to speak. The centaur rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So…we only have two days then huh,?" He asked. Artemis nodded.

"What do we do Foaly?" Holly asked, she had gotten up from her chair and was now standing next to Artemis on the screen. Foaly sighed.

"Well, for starters we have to alert the council. Fairy law requires it, with a situation like this." Foaly said, "From there they'll decide what we'll do next,"

"The council?" Holly almost whined. She wasn't particularly fond of the Council. There were a few reasons why. For starters, they didn't like her very much. Being female and a captain didn't agree with some of them, there was also the fact that Holly wasn't the best at sticking to the rules. Rules that the council had created. Another reason was they didn't like Artemis very much; a few of them still wanted to mind whip him. Holly was the kind of girl who didn't like people who wanted to erase her friend's memory.

"Yes, Holly. The Council," Foaly sighed, "It's the law, and they are the Council for a reason. It's their job to handle things like this." Holly sighed but agreed.

"Alright," she said. Foaly nodded.

"Great, now you should get back down here, and bring that cube with you, I wanna have a look at it," Holly looked over at Artemis who nodded.

"Sure, I don't want it," He said truthfully. Holly briefly wondered why Artemis disliked the cube so much but decided to dwell on that later.

"Okay," She said. Foaly seemed pleased that he would have a new toy to play with when she got back.

"I don't think you're taking this seriously enough Foaly," Holly chided Foaly, "The Peoples are in danger of being discovered,"

"It's like that every week with you people." Foaly defended himself, "Trust me, it losses it's thrill after a while,"

"That's because all you ever do is sit in that booth of yours," Holly retorted, "You never do any real work,"

"No work?!" Foaly exclaimed, "If it weren't for my brilliance, you'd all be dead. It's my genius plans that solve everything. You'd be lost if it weren't for me,"

"I don't know, I still have Artemis," Holly said. Artemis smiled, partly at the compliment and partly because she was right. Foaly snorted.

"Yeah yeah, need I remind you that you're boyfriend caused more than half of the disasters we've been through," Holly shouted at Foaly for the boyfriend comment and Artemis just scowled, partly at the boyfriend comment and partly because Foaly was right.

The argument continued for another minute before Artemis interrupted, insisting that they had more important things to be doing. Which was true. Artemis and Holly quickly said their byes and Foaly hung up. After Foaly's face disappeared from the screen Holly turned. She picked up the cube and examined it for a moment. A moment later she turned back to Artemis.

"Well, I guess I better get back down there," She said. Artemis simply nodded. Holly stored the cube away and put on her wings but didn't leave. She looked back to Artemis.

"Hey Arty…" She said. Artemis looked back at her, slightly surprised. She continued, "Thanks," She finally said. She smiled at him.

"Looks like you saved the People again," She said.

"It's a bit early to say that Holly," Artemis said reasonably.

"Still," Holly said, "If it weren't for you…we never would have found out about this. So…thank you…" Artemis smiled softly, obviously not used to being thanked

"It's…no problem," he finally said. Holly smiled at him and started up her wings.

"I'll call you later to tell you about what happens with the council," She said. Artemis nodded.

"Very well," He replied. Holly waved and flew out his open window. Artemis would have watched her go, but she had shielded. After a minute Artemis sighed. Foaly was sure the Council would handle it, but Artemis wasn't so sure. Another thought came to him that made him smile slightly. Holly had called him Arty again. And try as he might, he couldn't mind it.


End file.
